ctrworker writes, "burning a quart of oil in 10-15 miles...Afterwards it used a quart in 1200 miles"
This is an engine which direly needs a full rebuild, new pistons, rebuilt head, bearings, the whole works.
Burning oil at a quart per 15 miles, your friend is lucky this engine did not blow, had to be blowing out a military level smoke screen. At a quart per 1200 miles, this is still really bad. Back to a quart per 40 miles, this engine will seize a piston fairly soon; gets crooked then digs into the cylinder wall.
This is indicative of pistons and cylinder walls being plumb worn out, way beyond wear tolerance. If not for being diesel, you could hear those pistons rattling like marbles in a shaken tin can.
Symptoms are, hard starting, low compression and a blue to blue-white smoke from the exhaust pipe.
A full professional rebuild is the only cure.
Billyray
